Even by the usual Republican standards of craziness (e.g., global warming denial, evolution denial, unhealthy obsession with homosexuality, bigotry, extremism, etc.), this is bonkers:The news -- first reported by the State newspaper -- that Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) had spent the last six days in Argentina not, as his staff had previously said, hiking the Appalachian Trail turns what was a bad story for the governor's future political prospects into an out-and-out public relations disaster.Argentina, Appalachia; yeah, I can see how you could mix those two up. I mean, Argentina and Appalachia both start with the letter "A", both have four syllables, both have mountains, and both are in the southern parts of their respective continents. Plus, it's just a natural thing for a governor of a state to decide on the spur of the moment to fly down to Argentina - 12 hours or so by plane - and hang out there for a few days without telling anybody.
"I don't know how this thing got blown out of proportion," said Sanford upon his return stateside, explaining that he had mentioned to his staff that he might be going hiking along the Appalachian Trail last Thursday before changing his mind at the last minute. Asked why his staff released a statement Monday night saying that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, Sanford told the State: "I don't know."Um, ok.
My only question at this point is: who's the craziest 2012 Republican presidential contender - Mark "Naked Hiking to Argentina" Sanford, Newt "Sotomayor's a Latina woman racist" Gingrich, Sarah "Wolf Killer" Palin, Mike "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that’s fine" Huckabee, Jon "Extramarital Affair With Former Staffer" Ensign, or Bobby "Voodoo" Jindal? Fine choices, all! :)
